Flint, Mich.

2 of 10

Crime index*: 519.8

Population: 100,515

The birthplace of General Motors, Flint has been in economic free fall ever since the auto industry began its own precipitous decline. In the early 1980s, there were nearly 80,000 auto manufacturing jobs in the city. Now, they're nearly all gone.

As a result, median household income has fallen 45% below the median for the entire state and the poverty rate is near 40%.

The cash-strapped city has had to cut police pay and lay off officers, which has handicapped the crime fighting effort. There were 67 murders in Flint in 2012, an all-time high. Last year, things stabilized a bit, with the number of murders falling to 55.

The city did not respond to requests for comment.

February 03 2014 06:24 PM ET

Source: Source: CQ Press compiled this index using data reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Crime in the United States 2012." CQ Press notes that the FBI no longer ranks cities based on their crime statistics because each city reports crimes differently and some crimes go unreported, causing the index to be an unreliable indicator of crime. There are many factors that cause the nature and type of crime to vary from place to place. *The crime index is a formula that takes into account the weighted average of six crime categories murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and property crimes of burglary and motor vehicle theft, as well as the population of the city. The national rate is 1 and any number higher than that indicates a higher than average incidence of crime. To read CQ Press' methodology, click here. **List includes cities with populations of 75,000 or more.